Some new Vintage Goodness

I have had a stack of vintage pillowcases I needed to list in the shop but had not had a spare second.  I finally got them all listed this afternoon- there are sure some fun ones.  Here are a few of my recent favorites :)

I keep a select few for myself- I love having a unique and fun pillow to sleep on at night.  When I find ones like these, they just make me smile- there is something neat about vintage items.  Special, for sure!

Dreaming...

The Fat Quarter Shop is sponsoring a giveaway over at http://quokkaquilts.blogspot.com/2011/12/bloggers-choice-fat-quarter-bundle.html that had me smile. I had to try! I've always wanted to design my own "Blogger's Choice" bundle, and today I got my chance! You have to pick 12 prints and 3 solids and make a mosaic of them. I really love the retro and woodsy feel I wound up with. It makes me smile :) And maybe one day I can buy the whole bunch :)

Here's the print names :)

1-Annie's Farm Stand Pink Ring Tone Yardage-Pink

2-Ruby Cotton Lime Sundae Yardage

3-Woodland Teal Toadstool Houses Yardage

4-Butterscotch & Roses Ruby Acorn Mosaic Yardage

5-Pear Tree Cream and Orange Allover Eggs Yardage

6-Circa 52 Organic Cream Woodland Party Yardage-CREAM

7-Kona Cotton Cardinal Yardage

8-Happy Mochi Yum Yum TangerineCandy Yardage

9-Sketch Aqua Screen Texture Yardage-Aqua

10-Kona Cotton Bubble Gum Yardage

11-Far Far Away III Plum Guitars Yardage

12-Sew Cherry Green Sew Dots Yardage-GREEN

13-Sweet on NYC Grey Swirl Yardage-GREY

14-Kona Cotton Banana Yardage

15-Folk Heart Red Floral Lattice Yardage

16-FQS Logo

the Stack!

This is the stack, except for a few, that I still need to photograph for my shop :) Think I have some work to do? Uh, huh :). But it's fun work- I like it and it makes me smile to send vintage sheets all over the globe.

Need to Buy some Time

If you know where I can get some, I'd be thrilled to hear! Actually, you could make a grundle too! I am sure people from miles around would like some too :) I am having fun listing things in the shop, but man, does it take forever! I haven't even had a chance to sew becuse it's eating my time for lunch and dinner.
I gotta get through this, then keeping it updated won't be too bad :)
Off to list more- wish me speedy fingers :)

Up and Rolling!

Well, I am getting my FQs and pillowcases listed in Etsy, bit by bit :) The most time consuming part was editing the ba-zillion pictures. I know everybody loves doing that :). I am just not patient enough, I want it done yesterday! hehe!

The other thing that wore me out was lugging 5 stacks (well, make that 6 after my thrifting today :)) all this big or bigger up and down my stairs to the deck for the photo shoot! Gave my muscles a good work out! So that's a plus :) Almost as good as weight training, well, um, I'll count it as such :).

So the shop now has some of the many items listed. I am doing as few each day as I steal a few minutes away from the priorities of life :) There will be over 100 once I have them all up! Whew! Head on over and check out the pretties- I would love adding EACH of them to a quilt- what fun that would be!! Dreaming....

HERE'S THE SHOP LINK (www.LightningBugz.etsy.com) All things magical, ya know! And vintage is definitely magical!

Ok, I will have to resort to putting some in the shop!

How's that for a concise title?? hehe!
I was driving home by way of my favorite thrift store and just HAD to stop in again :). It is starting to cause trouble- happy trouble though :). When you dig hard enough, you can find some pretty neat things. Today I found 5 pretty neat things, and a cool pair of Harley Davidson winter boots for me- bonus!

I am filling up almost every inch of my space that is in the "half-room" that I have. So I guess I'm going to have to get cutting and put some of these lovelies in my Etsy shop. That way I can share the joy and make room for more pretties :) That's a good plan, don't ya think??!

Now just to find the time for the cutting :) There's always a catch...

Thrifting Jackpot!!

Woohoo- I found a thifting goldmine today! Well, it was actually in the same store I always shop in, but today was extraordinary-I found vintage sheet city! It was so exciting I was skipping down the aisles :) I get seriously giddy when I find good deals and I had a 20% off coupon for the entire purchase, so it was a happy moment indeed! I wound up with 15 sheets and 6 pillowcases, in prints of the sheets mostly. WOW!! I couldn't believe it :).
I have been wanting to make Jeni's Giant Vintage Star Quilt (over at http://incolororder.blogspot.com/) but needed some purple. I thought about ordering some from her shop but told myself I would check my thrift shop today- they have NEVER had a purple sheet since I have been collecting. There were 3 today- count them, 3!!!! Deep purple stripes, tiny lavendar rose buds, and the medium purple heart rope looking one. I was in shock. I was grabbing sheets right and left- I couldn't get them in my cart fast enough. You would have thought I'd won a shopping spree!
With my current stash and now these, my storage space will be quickly depleted, so I may wind up selling some fat quarters in my shop. I'll see what happens over the next few weeks. And how good I can cram them in my closet :) hehe! They are in the washer right now and I can hardly stand it, waiting to add them to my collection. I never thought old sheets would be so fun- don't start, it's addicting. It makes me nostalgic and think of the dear people that have gone before me. I get to sort them all tonight and play with colors- I think I will have enough to tackle the giant star quilt of Jeni's!! Yipee skipee!! Can you tell I can hardly wait??!!?? :) Off to fold sheets...

Oh my SkyeReve Fabrics!!

I have done a lot of online and brick and mortar shopping lately- trying to get the last couple prints for the FWQAL and backs for current quilts :). One shop that has blown me away with the selection, service, and just plain nice-ness is SkyeReve Fabrics (http://skyerevefabrics.com/)!! I met Natasha when purchasing fabric for the Rainbow Charm Swap 2- I needed some purple and she had just what I was looking for :).

Unfortunately, I oops'ed in cutting my last charm square line and needed another quarter yard. Don't ya just hate it when that happens??

Actually, it turned out to be a VERY good thing beacuse sweet Natasha got me an additional quarter yard of the fabric I needed and was so obliging to also send me a **few** of the other prints I have been dreaming of :). All in the name of an anniversary present to myself- hehe! And she even had a coupon for my first purchase!

It arrived today and I have not stopped squealing yet! Sarah Jane, Hoo's in the Forest, Sugar Flower 2011, butterflies, dots, berries, airplanes, and so much more loveliness! I am just beside myself!! I have a new best fabric friend :) Behold the yumminess:

I am giddy in the sweetness! Can hardly wait to cut into these lovelies and make something beautiful out of it all together :). Stop on over to her shop if you want some down home nice-ness and just plain incredible selection! Thanks so much Natasha- I'll be back again very soon!!!

Wonder Wandz on the way...

I haven't put anything into the shop lately, and it's gotten kinda lonely over there. So I decided yesterday to do something about that! I finished up the "Teachers give us wings" quilt- I'll post about that as soon as I can get outside to get a photo- too much rain and SNOW (yes, ridiculously enough, yes) here to have a good shot. So I set out to making the wands and getting the ribbons cut by last night. Got them all ready- now to assemble, and there will be Wonder Wandz in the shop :). I love watching kiddos play with these- it's so fun the things they come up with and how they run, jump, and leap- as if they are magical super-heroes or princesses! It is one of those things that make me smile :). I have some very fun color combos this time around too- come on over and check them all out! The shop link is: http://www.lightningbugz.etsy.com/ - May your day be filled with Wonder :)!

Hoops, not the hula kind...

No matter how much I wiggled growing up, I could never get those hula hoops to work :), but these I can do- and no wiggling required :) All the better-

I have been wanting to make some hoop art for the shop (and for my house) for a while now. It seemed like everytime I got ready to sit down and work on them, something else would blow up in my face (or another deadline would hit). Finally after many weeks, I have been able to get two pieces finished and into the shop- hip, hip, hooray!

It's been fun trying out different techniques on each hoop. The first one (My Sunshine), I appliqued and then machine freehanded the wording and embellishments. The second (There's no place like...), I appliqued then hand-embroidered the wording and embellishments. I like that they are different. I know some people love fancy, shamnsy, over the top hoop art, but I prefer simple and with meaning. So that is what I went for :) I may have to make duplicates for some of my rooms. I have quite a few more ideas and hope to have more time to work on them in coming days- we'll see what hits in the next little while :) It's been so wonderful to have a few minutes of down time to work on these- I really needed it! hehe!

Hope everyone's week is going well- I can hardly believe that it will be April this week- for real??!! Oh my, every year gets faster and faster- it makes me want to hurry, I don't know why, but then I realize that I need to sit back, take it all in, breathe deep, and just enjoy the moment. I have this saying hanging in my living room and try to live by it- The Joy is in the Journey. That sums it up for me- yup, just try to cherish every moment and be grateful! So April or not, I am just going to sit back and take it all in, enjoying the little things, especially!